076 Nomad Arc 16: The Sixth Prince's Army

A bit short, isn’t it?

Approximately 3,000 soldiers are lined up at the spaceport of Anoi Fortress.

At the front, Commander Sanders of Anoi Fortress, and the commanders of the Third Army—Noah, John, and Hunter—stand in rank.

And on the dais, I’m being forced to stand, required to deliver a speech to the troops.

This is for boosting morale. If I don’t do something like this, I’ll be swallowed whole in the succession struggle before you can say “jackrabbit.”

This time, the mic has a translator attached. It converts Japanese to Imperial, then broadcasts it through the speaker.

“Soldiers gathered at Anoi Fortress, I am Yae-gashi Akira, the Sixth Prince of the Empire.

My parents were specialists in genetic research.

When our parents died, the world started ragging on me and my sister—saying it was unnatural we were twins with a nine-year age gap.

It’s because our parents took a nine-year gap between conceiving us twins for their genetic research.

Called a specimen. A monster. Yeah, I’ve been on the receiving end of that kind of hate too. I’m just as much a victim of discrimination as you are.

So I have absolutely no discriminatory feelings toward you all.

You get mad about being called beasts, but you should be proud of having beast DNA instead.

The results of the research conducted upon you have been integrated into the bloodline of the reigning Emperor.

Discriminating against you is tantamount to discriminating against the Emperor's bloodline.

Whether "beastfolk" is a slur depends entirely on your mindset.

Why not take pride in being called a beastman?

Feline ears and tails—those are the kind of things Earthlings find irresistibly charming.

You wouldn’t believe it, but there are people out there who cosplay as chimeras, complete with beast ears and tails.

So, honestly, the thought of you lot marrying into my family? I felt a little spark of delight over that.

I heard the catfolk and dogfolk don’t get along.

Classic divide-and-rule tactic from a bad ruler.

The Empire kept the oppressed from uniting by pitting catfolk against dogfolk—redirecting their resentment.

For instance, treat catfolk like royalty in front of dogfolk. Then, treat dogfolk like royalty in front of catfolk.

Use the same dynamic—“Why’s the other side getting all the favors?”—but flip it depending on where you are.

That way, the anger meant for the Empire got turned inward, between the two groups who were supposedly suffering the same fate.

So instead of fighting each other while both of us are oppressed, why don’t we unite and fight the ones doing the oppressing?!

I only just found out I’m the sixth prince—after the count accused me of treason not long ago.

The thirteenth prince hid the truth from me, set a trap, and if I hadn’t figured it out on my own, I’d be the count’s slave right now.

So now… I don’t even have the strength to protect myself.

Will you fight beside me? Please… I beg you!」

I bow my head.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

“GJW FUEI OH GIU WEI OH GBU KAKA! Akira! Akira! Akira!”

The crowd erupts. Unbelievable frenzy.

No one here has a translator, so I can’t understand a word—but slowly, it turns into chants of “Akira!” and I realize… they’ve accepted me.

Seems like the beastfolk actually accepted me as one of their own.

Now I’ve got three thousand ships added to my force.

All personal retainers of a lord—so they’re straight-up Prince Akira’s army now.

To not disappoint their trust, I gotta secure a decent rank within the Empire, and raise all their statuses with me.

Imperial regular fleet? Never involved in succession disputes among princes.

I’m stuck here guarding the Anoi System for now—but no meddling beyond planetary defense.

And even that’s just temporary. Looks like I’m heading back to the nearest garrison planet real soon.

Cold, maybe. But I’ll count myself lucky just for not having to pick sides.

Need to boost my strength. Any good ideas out there?

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Office President's Reception Set.

"Any good spots to hunt down stray starships?"

I can’t help but mutter to myself.

Aya me answers him politely, as if to his muttered thoughts.

"There's a nest of rogue starships, but it's too dangerous—no eradication mission has ever been mounted."

"Den?"

"A giant fortress-class stray starship is giving birth to stray starships, like a mother producing offspring."

"Hey. If we nab that, we can boost our forces all we want."

"Please, don't be ridiculous."

"Anyway, where is it? Close by or what?"

You're close if you go through the Dimensional Jump Gate—but the gate on the other side is sealed off to prevent counter-invasion.

In a way, it's the kind of perception that’s close yet distant.

"Huh. How do you even undo this?"

"Permission from the imperial capital is required, but technically, it's not difficult."

"Ah, I see... then let's just go ahead and do it."

I really, really want to get my hands on a giant fortress that can endlessly produce combat power.

How the hell do you even get permission from the imperial home planet?

If you’ve got the operation plan and the application form all neat and tidy, they’ll at least give it a review. Whether or not they actually approve it’s another story.

"Operation plan? Just reconnaissance would do, right? Can't actually fight anything, so..."

"I'll file the application then."

Desperate times, desperate measures. Should I write it even if it's the Sixth Prince?

Yes, I'll do that.

Let's go on reconnaissance and shoot an Erosion Bullet in there.

Run away as is—seal the Dimensional Jump Gate.

After a while, maybe go check on them—use a nerve crack to subdue them.

I regret using “beastman” as a slur.

There’s no better term out there!

Revised and expanded on May 24, 2018.